Do you always find yourself distracted by social media and end up wasting the precious time you could have used to finish other essential tasks?
The thing is:
There are two types of people that run the social media world; the producers of content and the consumers of content.
While the producers of content are making millions of dollars every day, most of the consumers (me and probably you included) have found themselves in a lifestyle filled with nothing but distractions.
How often do you plan to start doing something and all of a sudden, a Facebook notification pops out, only for you to come back to your senses hours later?
In my road to fighting my awful habit of social media distraction, I have discovered several tricks that have really worked for me. I hope they will work for you too, that is if you implement them.
I would urge you to read the article all through to the end, try applying the tricks and I guarantee you change will be inevitable.
1. Silence or turn off your phone
Apparently, this is the first and most significant step in avoiding social media distraction. Think about it; you are working on that important but frustrating business proposal due the following morning, and then you receive a Facebook notification.
What will your first reaction be?
You will definitely be more than tempted to take a look at the notification, promising yourself to put your phone down immediately after.
But what happens?
Just one more like, one more comment, one more follower…..you get back to your senses an hour or an hour and a half later cursing yourself and promising yourself how you will complete the task early the following morning. Eventually, you go to bed without having completed it.
All am saying is if you want to increase your productivity but you are a social media addict, you need to turn that phone off when working. Alternatively, you can silence or turn off notifications from social media apps if you are afraid of missing an important call.
2. Turn off the Internet
Another alternative to switching your phone off would be turning off the internet/mobile data. If the task you are handling does not require a connection to the internet, it would be wiser to turn off the internet.
However, turning your phone’s Wi-Fi connection off won’t really work for you especially if the task you are handling involves using your phone. The temptation to reconnect your phone will always be there, and with it being just a click away, I promise you, you won’t even think about it.
The best way to do it is disconnecting your internet connection by unplugging it from the power source.
3. Block access to or control the amount of time you spend on social websites
The internet is filled with inexhaustible lots of interesting things, and if you don’t limit the amount of time you consume this content, you might find yourself wasting almost a whole day. Thankfully, there are programs that you can use to block access to websites such a YouTube or Twitter for any amount of time you wish.
Some of these programs are Anti-Social, LeechBlock, StayFocusd, Cold Turkey, and SelfControl.
The only downside with these programs is they are all premium subscriptions; however, its just a few bucks which can’t really hurt your wallet (or pulse). Besides, I guarantee you; you will get more value from the little investment than you can imagine.
After all, time is money 🙂
4. Plan distraction periods
Again, the fact that you want to stop social media distraction does not mean you quit tweeting or liking Instagram photos. Whether you are a digital marketer or not, you still need some time to take a breather from the stressful work; reply DMs or even watch cats doing silly things on YouTube.
What you need is to strike a balance between doing productive work and engaging in social media without wondering where all your time went.
The best method is scheduling the specific times of the day when you will use social media and post your selfies. But make sure you stick to the schedule; otherwise, you will find yourself always extending those times which is not what you want.
5. Stick to the plan
All the above options cannot work without requiring you to be disciplined. First, you need to come up with a plan you are sure you can follow, and then just commit yourself to follow it.
It will not be easy especially in the first few days or even weeks, but you have to keep following it.
Remember, nothing worthwhile comes easy.
6. Monitor your improvement
The final step is monitoring your improvement whether on a daily, weekly or bi-weekly basis and making the necessary adjustments.
You might also consider rewarding yourself for the job well done whenever you find a significant improvement in your behaviour.